A northwestern Indiana school bus driver has been arrested on allegations that she let children as young as 11 years old drive the bus.
The Porter County Sheriff’s Office says 27-year-old Joandrea McAtee of Portage was arrested Friday on preliminary felony charges of child neglect. The department says McAtee allowed three students — ages 11, 13 and 17 — to drive the bus for a short distance in a rural area near Valparaiso as she was dropping students off from school.
Officials say McAtee was fired by the Porter Township school district following an investigation prompted by a parent complaint to a Boone Grove High School resource officer about students driving the bus on Thursday.
McAtee remained jailed on Saturday. Online court records didn’t list a defense attorney for her.
